The following article briefly explains how we go about living this vision as The Crowded House. If you would like to talk this through further please contact the leaders of your local Gathering. There is also a welcome course that you may like to participate in, which explains further what life is like within The Crowded House.
TCH Gospel Community: The core unit of Christians sharing life and sharing mission.
TCH Gathering: A group of Gospel Communities in a city or locality with a shared eldership and regular meeting.
TCH Network: The Crowded House family as a whole – all our Gatherings and Gospel Communities in different parts of the world.
Wider Movement: We want to be part of a wider Spirit-inspired church planting movement that is not owned or controlled by anyone. We express this through partnerships with people beyond The Crowded House Network.
Community is central to the Bible story. People are called not simply to an individual relationship with God, but to become part of the new people of God, the bride of Christ. You become a Christian when, by faith, you become part of the people for whom Christ died.
We see from the Bible story that we are recreated by the cross and resurrection to be God’s people. We are family. Our identity is communal. This is why for us the central context for the Christian life is a Gospel Community.
A Gospel Community is a group of people living life-on-life together on mission.
A Gospel Community has a common identity with a commitment to pastoring one another with the Gospel and working together to witness to Christ in their neighbourhood. The Gospel Community is the core unit of church life, the place where evangelism, pastoral care, discipleship and life take place.
A focus on the Gospel: Community is given to us in the Gospel. We are reconciled by God through the cross. Our focus needs to be on the cross. We are Gospel Communities.
A focus on mission: A sense of community is often built by doing things together. It is as we orient ourselves outwards that our inner communal life is strengthened. Community is not to be self-indulgent. We are Gospel Communities with a mission to take that Gospel to the lost.
A Gospel Community is about a shared life, a network of relationships, a community of people – not simply a weekly meeting.
So it is more than a Bible study group: the Bible is central to the life of a Gospel Community, but the Bible is read, discussed and lived throughout the week in the context of shared life, not only at formal meetings.
And it is more than a pastoral support group: pastoral care is a feature of a Gospel Community, but it is a group with a strong sense of mission. People in a Gospel Community can articulate their vision for mission and identify the specific people they are trying to reach.
Our Gospel Communities within a given locality are organised into Gatherings. A Gathering is defined by:
A collective identity: a sense of ‘us’, of working together to bless the city. This sense of connectedness will be the foundation on which co-operation in mission and planting new Gospel Communities can build.
A collective leadership: a group of elders who have responsibility for the oversight, vision, mentoring and training of the Gospel Communities.
A collective meeting: a meeting where the Gospel Communities come together to reinforce their common identity and mission.
Our Gatherings provide good Bible exposition to free up our Gospel Community leaders to concentrate on discipleship, building community and mission. The Bible teaching in the Gospel Community focuses on applying the word taught at the Gathering to the specifics of the Gospel Community and its members. We want to push the implications of God’s word down deep into our hearts and lives.
The Gathering unites the Gospel Communities and enables each Gospel Community to see the bigger picture, our vision to litter our city or locality with communities of light. The Gathering embodies that vision as we meet Gospel Communities from across the city. Our vision is to start new Gospel Communities and, as they multiply, to start new Gatherings.